


Show Season

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12427386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Gwendolyn celebrates her birthday with a horse show. Gwendolyn belongs to thestarstabletimes on tumblr and Phoebe belongs to phoebe-seastorm on tumblr.





	Show Season

Gwendolyn, in a move that was rather unlike her, was up before her alarm was set to wake her. She grinned as she looked at the time, and, finding it was earlier than she'd expected, got out of bed and followed her growling stomach to the kitchen. Rather than feeling nervous, as most people probably would on a day like today, Gwendolyn was actually rather excited and confident. She'd been training her Thoroughbreds (and Admiral, of course) all summer, and they were more than ready for this. They'd aced every practice show, and she'd even managed to get not only some new personal best times, but also the best times on some of the races. Chipotle, of course, had ruled the riding hall, much to the disappointment of some of the other riders.

While Gwendolyn was tucking into her breakfast of oatmeal (she could have delicious foods after the show, and she needed the energy to get through the day), her mobile phone buzzed, and Gwendolyn slid her thumb across the screen to unlock it before it could wake her best friend and housemate Phoebe.

"Hi, dad," said Gwendolyn, laughing at the surprise in his voice.

"Wow, you're already wide awake? I thought I'd have to wake you," said her father on the other end of the phone.

"What can I say? It's like Christmas morning," said Gwendolyn. The Jorvik Equestrian Institute Games wasn't quite the Olympics, but it was still big enough to draw huge crowds and make Gwendolyn excited. Her father chuckled.

"Well, don't be too over-confident," said her father. "Make sure you eat a good breakfast before you go, and work the horses a little so they don't pull something. Take plenty of water with you, and-"

"I know, I know," said Gwendolyn, laughing. "I'm prepared, dad, I'm even going to pack a lunch for myself. And yes, it'll be a rye sandwich, to keep my energy up."

"Very good," said her dad. "I'll let you get back to your breakfast now. Happy birthday."

"Aww, thanks, dad. And it's oatmeal, in case you were wondering," said Gwendolyn, smirking at her father's concern for her. He seemed pleased with that, and let her go after wishing her luck and once more urging her to be careful and have fun.

Gwendolyn quickly got back to her breakfast after she'd put the phone down, feeling very much like a horse at all the oats she was consuming, and got caught up in thoughts of what the show would be like. How her precious English Thoroughbreds would shine as they trotted around the ring in dressage, or leaped over the jumps in showjumping, and how they'd manage the cross-country tracks quite easily. Fortunately, Jorvik had plenty of cross-country tracks, being mostly country, and the tracks at Firgrove, especially, had been good practice for her and her horses.

So caught up was she in her thoughts that Gwendolyn didn't even hear the ringing of her alarm clock, which had been left still ticking away in her bedroom. She was broken out of her thoughts when a grumbling Phoebe walked into the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Next time, remember to shut your alarm off," said Phoebe, smirking at her over her water glass.

"Oh! Sorry," said Gwendolyn, blushing as she finished off her half-cold oatmeal. She'd zoned out with a spoon in her mouth, which would have been much more embarrassing if anyone had been around to see it. Phoebe laughed.

"It's okay, I know you're excited for today," said Phoebe. "A show on your birthday, huh? Imagine that. Maybe you'll have birthday luck and win first prize for your birthday. That was a lot of 'birthday's. Happy birthday, by the way." Gwendolyn laughed.

"Thanks," said Gwendolyn. "You should probably go back to sleep, though."

"Yeah," said Phoebe through a yawn. "I have to be nice and fresh for your show. I'll see you later."

"I'll look for you in the crowd," said Gwendolyn.

"I'll be cheering for you," said Phoebe, raising her water glass in a salute as she walked back to her bedroom.

Gwendolyn smiled and rose to her feet so she could put water in her bowl to soak. After a quick glass of water, Gwendolyn put some clothes on and headed to the stables to make sure that her horses were washed and ready for the show. They wouldn't have to travel far, the show being held in New Hillcrest, so she didn't have to worry about road dust messing up their coats again.

"Good morning, my lovely Chi," Gwendolyn cooed, petting the chestnut horse's nose before she led him out of the stall to groom him. The other horses watched on enviously, but they would get their turn. Gwendolyn could only smile as she made sure his hooves and coat were clean, then got his tack ready. Chipotle had been a real stunner this past summer, and she loved him dearly. Truly, he was the best showjumper she'd ever seen.

"Oh! You're up early, Gwendolyn," said Nathalie, surprised to see the rider so busy with her horses this early in the morning. 

"Well, it is the big day," said Gwendolyn, tying Chipotle outside while she got the rest of her horses ready. There was a temporary stable set up in a field near where the show would take place, so there would be plenty of room in which to stable her beauties.

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten about that," said Nathalie. "Gosh, there's just been so much on my mind lately."

"It's okay," said Gwendolyn, smiling as she brought out Candy Crush and began to comb out his long mane. He seemed to enjoy having it long, but a long mane seemed to draw tangles and burrs like a magnet drew iron filings. "I'll donate some of my prize money to these stables, because you've taken such good care of my horses while I've been living near here." She thought with pride at how far she'd come, from living in a small apartment in Fort Pinta where she'd struggled to turn out her horses in paddocks, to living in Firgrove with the daily cross-country training, and now to here, where she trained her horses when she wasn't busy fixing up the old Stormgarden house with Phoebe.

"Oh, thank you so much," said Nathalie, grinning at her. "That means so much to me. These stables mean so much to me, and I can barely afford to pay rent some months with how the Drakes are charging me..."

Gwendolyn let Nathalie air her grievances, knowing that the poor woman needed some outlet at least, while she concentrated on getting the rest of her horses ready. Admiral, her newest addition, stepped out of his stall quite elegantly, though Gwendolyn could tell that he was eager for the show. All of her horses were, so the stable seemed to give off the vibe of pure excitement. They'd been training for this for months, after all, and it was finally the big day. At last, once Admiral was cleaned up, Gwendolyn stepped outside to quickly warm them up in the paddock. After some quick lunges, Gwendolyn left them alone, knowing that they'd easily warm themselves up trotting around. And Nathalie would look after them.

Returning to the house, Gwendolyn put on her show clothes before she stood in the bathroom for a good half hour styling her hair and putting on makeup. It was only a simple ponytail and some makeup, but the judges would notice, especially in the dressage portion. Gwendolyn wasn't exactly nervous, but she had to be prepared. That was the most important thing. Taking a few deep breaths, Gwendolyn looked in the mirror, put on a smile, and decided that she was ready.

As she came in sight of the show ground, Gwendolyn could feel the excitement in the air. She'd been excited before, but now, there was just a touch of nerves. There were some really good riders here. There were even some that she'd only seen or heard of on TV or online or in newspapers. And she would be competing with them. Was she really cut out for this? Sure, she'd trained hard all summer, but these guys were the big leagues. Still, at least Anne von Blyssen wouldn't be here. She'd been missing for years, and that was sad, but that would be a good thing here- Anne was from Jorvik originally, so she would've participated in this if she'd been there.

Nevertheless, Candy Crush was excellent in dressage, stretching out his long legs in the special dressage moves and following the routine that they'd practiced and perfected to a tee. The judges seemed quite pleased, and, looking out at the crowd, Gwendolyn grinned at the sight of Phoebe and her father cheering her on.

The cross-country was a little more difficult, especially because the terrain in Epona was quite different to that in Firgrove, but Gwendolyn managed it quite nicely. She'd just have to comb some burrs and tangles out of Admiral's tail later.

At last, it came time for Gwendolyn to mount Chipotle and ride him over to the showjumping arena.

"Next up, Gwendolyn Winterberg on her English Thoroughbred, Aristotle's Clover," the announcer announced, and Gwendolyn felt great pride as Chipotle soared over the jumps with ease. She wished again that Guillermo had allowed Chipotle onto the Hanoverian-only race, but at least she'd gotten practice with water jumps with Admiral. Chipotle didn't shy away from the water, either, not even when a stray hoof sent up a spray of water droplets thanks to a small stone landing in the water.

Once she'd competed in all of her events, Gwendolyn joined her friend and father in the crowd.

"You did amazing," said her father, beaming at her. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart." He hugged her, and Gwendolyn beamed at his praise.

"Thanks, dad," said Gwendolyn.

"I agree, that was some of the best riding I've seen all day," said Phoebe. "And did you see Chipotle out there? Stunning!"

"Heh, well, I couldn't see much more of him other than his head and neck, but it sure felt great," said Gwendolyn. "Those boys are going to be so spoilt when they get home."

"Ah, but it will have to wait until after we get back," said her father.

"Yes!" said Phoebe, nodding. Gwendolyn looked puzzled. "What, you didn't think we'd forget about your birthday, did you?"

"Oh," said Gwendolyn, and laughed. She'd gotten so caught up in the excitement of competing that she'd almost forgotten that today was also her birthday.

"We're going into Jorvik City for ice cream and cake, to celebrate your birthday," said her father. "And, to make it extra special, I'll let you free in Jaharla with my credit card." Gwendolyn gaped at him.

"Really?" asked Gwendolyn. Her father nodded.

"Of course," said her father. "It is your birthday, after all, and you did very well in the competition after you trained so hard for it. I think you've earned it."

"Wow, thanks, dad!" said Gwendolyn, grinning and hugging him a little tighter.

Gwendolyn watched the rest of the show with her father and Phoebe, taking plenty of photos of the other competitors, and then waited, holding their hands tightly, while the results were read out. Just as she'd expected, she did get a penalty for the splash in the showjumping, but she still received second place for her performance. She also got second place in the cross-country, which was quite good considering she hadn't practiced the terrain enough (an oversight on her part, but at least she'd learned for the future). But, to her great pride and delight, Candy Crush won first place in the dressage.

"Wow! He's come so far," said Phoebe wistfully. "Remember when he had that blue mane?" Gwendolyn giggled.

"He looked terrible," said Gwendolyn. "But with my help, he turned out pretty great."

After returning the horses to the main stables in New Hillcrest and turning them out in the paddock to rest, Gwendolyn took the ferry to Fort Pinta and, from there, boarded a bus to Jorvik City with Phoebe and her father. There, they treated her to the best ice cream in Jorvik (it was pumpkin spice flavour, much to her delight), and Gwendolyn picked up a new dressage set for Candy Crush. He deserved it, after all, having performed so well today.

As she sat in Leonardo's ice cream parlour, savouring the taste of her birthday pumpkin spice ice cream, Gwendolyn smiled. Today had been a wonderful birthday.


End file.
